Improvement in devices for worming and serving rigging



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISVAIAH W. BOWDEN AND JOSEPH- D. BEACH, OF PENOBSCOT, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR WORMING AND SERVING RIG'G-ING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,261, dated June 27,1871.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, IsAIAE W. BowDEN and JOSEPH D. LEACH, of Penobscot,in the county of Hancock and State of Maine, have invented a new anduseful Device for W orming and Serving Rigging 5 and we hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of ourinvention, which will enable others to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanyin g drawing forming a part of thisspecication, in which- Figure l shows a side elevation of the wormingdevice; Fig. 2, a plan of same; Fig. 3, an end view of same; Fig. 4, aside elevation of the mallet attachment for serving; Fig. 5, a sectionof same, showing the adjustable truck; Fig. 6, an end view of themallet-head.

Same letters show like parts.

The object of our invention is to facilitate the work of servingrigging, doing'it more effectually, in much less time, and with asmaller number of men than by the Amethod now pursued. We employ, ineffecting our purpose, a handle having reels attached for holding thefilling or spun yarn and two heads, either one of which can be put ontosaid handle, one being used for putting on the filling or worming therope, and the other for serving it with the spun yarn after it has beenwormed. The worming is now done entirely by hand, and is, of course, alaborious operation, besides being liable to the imperfections ot'hand-work. The serving is done with a mallet designed for this purpose;but our device for accomplishing it has many advantages over the malletnow used, and overcomes many of its disadvantages, as will be more fullyexplained by reference tothe accompanying drawing.

A, Fig. l, shows' the handle with the reels a a for holding the lling orspun yarn. These reels are provided with thumb-screws b for the purposeof regulating the tension of the yarn as it passes oft' and is woundupon the rope. They have handles c for convenience in winding the yarnupon them. This handle A is attachable to the worming device B or themallet-head C for serving, as shown in Fig. 4, and forms an essentialpart of the device in both cases. The Wormer B consists of a head, D,channeled for the reception of the rope E, and provided with teeth d,adjustable straps e e for securing the rope, and

guides ff running diagonally across the bottom oi' the channel g so asto t into the spiral grooves formed by the strands of the rope, so thatas the wormer is turned over and around the same the guides may causesaid wormer to advance in the direction of the length of the rope. Theguides fand f are. adjustable by means of thurnb-screws h h and slots iz', so that the distance between them may be varied and adapted todifferent sizes of rope and still iit the grooves. For hawserlaid 7 ropethey would be cast so as to lie across the channel g, in the directionshown by the dotted lines. The teeth a receive thestrands of lling fromthe reels between them, and guide them into the grooves between thestrands of the rope to be wound. As many reels may be used as the ropeto be wound has strands, each yarn passing into its appropriate groovein the rope, and lling it preparatory to its being served. In thedrawing, Fig. 1, four reels are shown, a, a a a.

The operation of worming is as follows: The strands oi' filling aresecured to one end of the rope, seen at E, which is then placed in thechannel g of the head, and the guides ff moved until they fay into thegrooves between its strands. The straps e e are then tighten ed, thetension of the reels regulated by the thumb-screwsb, and the iillin gyarn guided through the teeth el into the grooves in the rope. The wholedevice is then turned over and around the rope, advancing along it as itmoves around b y reason ofthe diagonal guides, drawing the yarn from thereels as fast as required, and winding it tightly into the spacesbetween the strands of the rope. When enough of the rope has been wormedthe ends of the tilling are fastened in the usual manner. By this deviceseveral strands of filling can be wound on at once by adding to thenumber of reels, while by the old hand process only one could be put on.When the worming has been completed the rope is ready for serving. Thehandle A is removed from the Wormer B and inserted in the mallet-head.(See Fig. 4.) In the drawing of the mallet-head only two reels areshown,i'0r convenience in description. This mallet-head differs fromgtheordinary head both in the manner in which the spun yarn is taken fromthe reels and the tension of said yarns regulated, and in having atruck, j, which serves to prevent the corners of the mallet from digginginto the rope and.

hindering its progress, and also assists it in moving` alongv upon therope as the serving is wound on. This truck projects below the groove inthe mallet in which the rope is plaeed, and thus keeps it away from thecorners o. (See Fig. 6.) It is placed upon a rod, k, which is insertedin that end of the mullet-head which is at the ri ght hand of theoperator when the mallet is in use. The cavity in which it is insertedis sufficiently` large to allow a lateral play to the rod and itsattached truck. Said rod is secured in place by the pivot at l, and itslateral motion-is regulated by means ofthe thumbscrews m m ou each sideof the inallet-head. These allow the rod and its truck to be thrown fromside to side, either to the right or left, and secured in eitherposition or in the middle of the head, if desired. By thus setting thetruck upon an angle with the end of the inallet, as the inallet isturned over and around the rope, as usual, this truck rolls around therope and draws the wallet-head along' faster or slower, as the angle ismore or less large. As before stated, the yarn can be wound directlyupon the reels, turning them by means of their handles.

In the present form of ma-llet the single reel used is removed from thehandle and the serving yarn wound on by hand. The yarns, as they aretaken from the reels, are guided and kept from interfering; with eachother by being passed through the guides n u, as many of these guidesbeing used as there are yarns to be wound on.

that we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A device for worming rope, consisting of a channeled head, D,attached to a handle7 A, and having,` adjustable guides f j straps e e,and reels a af or their equivalents, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The truck j, attached, as specified, to the end of a serving-mallet,and having a lateral adjustment by means ofthe thuinb-serews m m orother equivalents, as specified.

I. W. BOXVDEN.

J. D. LEAGH. Witnesses:

FRANK CLEMENT, J AMES LEAGH.

